Ballads
by Arishako
Summary: She’d tell Brittany about all the travesties in the world and about the millions of things keeping them from being happy together and when she was finished the other girl would just nod absently and say, “Okay.”


Title: Ballads

Fandom: Glee

Pairing/Characters: Brittany/Santana

Warnings: Language

Word Count: 913

Spoilers: All up to Sectionals, to be on the safe side.

AN: I don't actually recall if Santana was given any sort of background story, so I improvised. Sorry if something goes against established cannon.

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Lying here in bed next to Brittany, it was _almost_ enough for Santana to just forget about the rest of the world and her supposed place in it. Always close but never quite enough.

When she was curled up to the lackadaisical cheerleader—who obviously loved Santana even though they weren't, like, dating or anything—Santana was able to _see_ all the injustice and stupidity and double standards in the world and in their high-school, but she was never quite ready to separate herself from the system by actually voicing her discontent.

So she'd talk to Brittany, but she'd do so in Spanish.

She'd tell Brittany about all the travesties in the world and about the millions of things keeping them from being happy together and when she was finished Brittany would just nod absently and say, "Okay."

And nothing would really change, because Brittany would always just say, "Okay," when Santana was done speaking words at her in some confusing language and then she'd wind up staying the night anyway. Still, however, Santana felt that it was something she had to do—that it was helping them come closer to something, maybe—and so the one-sided talks became a near-daily occurrence.

She would tell Brittany about her family—about how her sister had been the head Cheerio _and_ had managed to make the Honor Rolls and how her parents could never quite see her own accomplishments as being good enough after that. She would tell Brittany about her father and how he always took her to family church events and how he used to whisper to her before bedtime in a gentle voice that only certain people were good enough for God. She would tell Brittany about the way her mother used to from whenever RuPaul's fathers would drop her off at school together and would mumble that it just wasn't natural. ("'_I'd treat my family better than that, B. Promise.'_" "Okay.")

She would tell Brittany about the other students and how they'd been calling her a whore since the seventh grade when she started to wear those spaghetti-strap shirts that showed her bra straps to school, and how recently the word has felt less like an insult and more like an expectation now that the boys really do want only one thing from her. She would tell Brittany about the way that Puck, of all people, never treated her like dirt or some prostitute or anything like that, even if he did suck at relationships. She would mostly tell Brittany about Quinn, though, and how she managed to rise up to the top with no effort at all—about that horrible little spark of glee that rose in her gut when the word spread about her pregnancy (and sometimes when she was feeling brave Santana would tell Brittany about how she was still maybe sort of a little jealous of Preggo because, even though she'd lost everything, she still seemed to be disgustingly happy with _Manhands_ of all people ("'_Sometimes I think I might be jealous of Berry, too._'" "Okay.") ).

Santana would tell Brittany all about her plans for the future—about how she would wind up married to some athlete who, sure, didn't _really_ love her but always let her buy what she wanted with his money. She would tell Brittany about college and how she'd probably get into some not-horrible community-college, because she wasn't _stupid_ or anything, but she didn't think that she had the brains to ever get very far past that and that a black mark on her record (from Sylvester or from any other teacher who decided to pick on the lesbian kid) could pretty much ensure that she wouldn't even get to that point. She would tell Brittany that despite everything she was still scared to wind up all alone and bitter and she just wasn't sure if she could put her whole life on the line for a pretty girl with a smile like the summer. Usually she would say that it could never be worth it with a hollow look in her eyes, but sometimes when she was feeling brave she would beg the other girl to keep holding on for her ("'_Would you ever give up on me, Britt?_'" "Okay.").

Santana was feeling brave today and so she talked about such corny shit as _roughing the storm_ and_ always being there for each other _and_ fucking up anyone's shit who gets in our way 'cause we are going to _do _this_; she told Brittany about the money she'd been saving up from various bets and blackmails that could serve as bus fare if things got ugly in small conservative Lima, and she told Brittany that this time things were going to be _different_. This time she really had gotten her shit together and was going to change their lives. This time would not be like every single other time when she had been feeling brave and started promising too much. This time—this moment would be the start of the rest of their lives.

And, sure, Brittany couldn't speak Spanish and probably couldn't tell a _burro_ from a _burrito_ but Santana knew that the other girl would still just know that things had changed. Rather than nodding vaguely, Brittany would sweep her off her feet and away into the sunset because everything really would be all right. Santana knew that in her heart, and it echoed in her voice.

"_Te amo_."

"Okay."


End file.
